Joey Gallo hit a home run last night. It wasn’t enough to quiet the wolves. Yankees fans want him gone.

It’s sad to see how far former Ranger Joey Gallo has fallen since being traded to the Yankees.

He was always a head case here. Always on the verge of greatness or on the verge of disappearing. He was on his way to an MVP season in 2019, then an injury derailed his season, costing him his duly elected All-Star Game appearance.

Then he took a look at his new home in The Shed in 2020 and was lost in his head again, convincing himself he cannot hit there.

In his career, he has mostly been an enigma. When he hits it, it goes far. He hit home runs more often than singles, it seems. Gallo isn’t a hitter as much as he is a conversation piece. An oddity.

Since being traded to New York, he’s been a disaster. It’s no longer when he hits, it’s if. Since being traded to the Yankees at the deadline last year, after turning down a very fair contract extension from Texas, Gallo is hitting .151. And he’s playing outfield with all the finesse of a drunk uncle trying to carve the Thanksgiving turkey.

It’s gotten so bad, popular New York Yankees writer and radio host Mike Francesca is openly campaigning for the Yankees to get rid of Gallo now.

“You cannot continue to play him with this level of productivity,” Francesa said. “I understand it’s only April. But there is a level of performance that has to be maintained to stay in the lineup.”

Playing in New York only makes his struggles worse. Poor Joey Gallo’s worst enemy is Joey Gallo. 

As a Yankee, Gallo has struck out 111 times in 188 at-bats. That’s every other time. He’s not walking at all. So that on-base percentage bump he enjoyed in Texas isn’t there. He’s not even a regular starter.

Basically he is a strikeout machine.

As Francesca adds, they really need to trade Gallo for his own good. So he can breathe again. He needs to be where there is no pressure to win. The perfect place would be in Colorado, where he can play with his boyhood friend Kris Bryant, where the air is thin and the ball will travel further. Assuming he is able to make contact.

As the public campaign is now underway to move Gallo, here is hoping the one location he doesn’t end up in is back in Arlington.

Please, Rangers, do not do it. This team is trying to move away from that.

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